Friends and family,
Greetings from Trinidad in the West Indies. We have had another busy
week. We stayed with our mission president's five children this past
week while Sister Gamiette joined the President on Zone Conference
tour in Guadeloupe and Guyana. It takes three to four hours per day
to drive them to and from school and activities. We were reminded of
all the hours we spent running the "school taxi" all the years our
children were growing up. We are glad we live each season of our
lives just once, along with a a few flashbacks while tending
grandchildren etc.
Our time spent in the office this week was reduced so we tried to be
efficient and productive. Sister Wheeler is preparing packets for
incoming and outgoing missionaries, coordinating airline tickets and
immigration issues, answering questions from parents of newly called
missionaries and newly called couples (which we need many more of) and
numerous other responsibilities.
Elder Wheeler is paying all the mission vendors, taking care of
apartment issues and paying monthly rents for 60 plus apartments,
funding all the missionaries for their travel and missionary support
funds, funding the petty cash funds in all of the countries, which
pays for apartment utilities, cell phones and other mission expense
and managing the car fleet of 50 vehicles. There is much to do!
We are enjoying being busy and doing as best we can what the Lord has
called us to do . We feel so blessed to be called to serve and to see
the work of the Lord going forth here in this mission. It is a great
blessing to serve with the valiant young missionaries the Lord has
raised up to carry the message of the Gospel and the Restoration to
the world. This work is led and inspired by God. Full-time
missionary service is wonderful! We love our friends and family and
appreciate your love and support. May the blessings of heaven be with
each of you!
Much love,
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
17 October,2010
,
It has been two weeks and we are thinking about all of you. We are
having trouble with our laptop and we are waiting for a back light to
be shipped in for it. I am writing this from the computer in the
Mission Office. We will make some Skype calls when our laptop is
repaired.
We went to Tobago with Elder and Sister Child last weekend and stayed
at Turtle Beach Resort. Tobago is beautiful and only a 15 minute
flight from Trinidad. Elder and Sister Luster were wonderful hosts.
We all went to Englishman's Bay and King Georges' Fort. On Sunday we
attended the Branch there which was a great experience. Lusters had
us and the Elders and Sisters for Sunday dinner. We flew back to
Trinidad at 11:30 p.m. and arrived at our apartment at 12:30 a.m.
(Not bad) We felt much refreshed and ready to go again.
This week has been very hectic. We have had Zone Conference for
Trinidad North (Wednesday) and Trinidad South (Thursday). Elder and
Sister Kilgore from the Area Offices in the Dominican Republic are
touring our Mission. Dr. Kilgore gave a great presentation on being
healthy. He made the point that being sick is a huge waste of time
and money. It takes a little effort to stay well, but getting well
can be a challenge. President Gamiette taught about temples and gave
us much to think about. We are all building temples be they personal
or Church. Each of us is a temple and we are influencing other people
who are also temples. Great lesson. We also received three
missionaries this week who have had a real challenge getting here.
Sister Shrestha from Nepal flew in with Elder and Sister Kilgore which
helped a lot. Immigration at the airport gave here some difficulty
but the Kilgores helped that situation. Elder Nielson and Elder
Lundgren, who will be serving in Suriname, received their visas on
Wednesday and were here on Thursday. Suriname has been very tough of
late giving us clearance and these two missionaries have been temping
in Tennessee while waiting for clearance. We are responsible to keep
the apartment they stay in stocked with breakfast items and clean
linen as well as light housekeeping. We have had four different
groups there this week. The apartment they stay is in our complex and
is the apartment we moved out of for this very purpose. It will save
the mission a lot of money by not having to use a bed-and-breakfast.
It is convenient to start a load of wash, straighten and then throw
things in the dryer. This week we will hire a local member to come in
and deep clean. We are grateful for so many things that are being
made easier and more efficient. Saturday morning we went to the
Museum with the Childs and enjoyed it immensely. It is most
interesting to see the European influence in the Caribbean. It also
helps us to understand the local culture. We will long remember our
experiences here. We attended Church in Chaguanas again today. The
father of the family that lost a full-term baby a few months ago spoke
in Sacrament meeting and then taught Sunday School. He is growing by
leaps and bounds spiritually, great to watch. Interesting that our
trials can become a great blessing if we are willing to let them do
that for us.
We will be staying with the Gamiette family again this week as Sister
Gamiette will be going on tour with President Gamiette. So another
busy week ahead. We love you all and hope that our computer is back
up and going shortly so we can communicate more effectively.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
It has been two weeks and we are thinking about all of you. We are
having trouble with our laptop and we are waiting for a back light to
be shipped in for it. I am writing this from the computer in the
Mission Office. We will make some Skype calls when our laptop is
repaired.
We went to Tobago with Elder and Sister Child last weekend and stayed
at Turtle Beach Resort. Tobago is beautiful and only a 15 minute
flight from Trinidad. Elder and Sister Luster were wonderful hosts.
We all went to Englishman's Bay and King Georges' Fort. On Sunday we
attended the Branch there which was a great experience. Lusters had
us and the Elders and Sisters for Sunday dinner. We flew back to
Trinidad at 11:30 p.m. and arrived at our apartment at 12:30 a.m.
(Not bad) We felt much refreshed and ready to go again.
This week has been very hectic. We have had Zone Conference for
Trinidad North (Wednesday) and Trinidad South (Thursday). Elder and
Sister Kilgore from the Area Offices in the Dominican Republic are
touring our Mission. Dr. Kilgore gave a great presentation on being
healthy. He made the point that being sick is a huge waste of time
and money. It takes a little effort to stay well, but getting well
can be a challenge. President Gamiette taught about temples and gave
us much to think about. We are all building temples be they personal
or Church. Each of us is a temple and we are influencing other people
who are also temples. Great lesson. We also received three
missionaries this week who have had a real challenge getting here.
Sister Shrestha from Nepal flew in with Elder and Sister Kilgore which
helped a lot. Immigration at the airport gave here some difficulty
but the Kilgores helped that situation. Elder Nielson and Elder
Lundgren, who will be serving in Suriname, received their visas on
Wednesday and were here on Thursday. Suriname has been very tough of
late giving us clearance and these two missionaries have been temping
in Tennessee while waiting for clearance. We are responsible to keep
the apartment they stay in stocked with breakfast items and clean
linen as well as light housekeeping. We have had four different
groups there this week. The apartment they stay is in our complex and
is the apartment we moved out of for this very purpose. It will save
the mission a lot of money by not having to use a bed-and-breakfast.
It is convenient to start a load of wash, straighten and then throw
things in the dryer. This week we will hire a local member to come in
and deep clean. We are grateful for so many things that are being
made easier and more efficient. Saturday morning we went to the
Museum with the Childs and enjoyed it immensely. It is most
interesting to see the European influence in the Caribbean. It also
helps us to understand the local culture. We will long remember our
experiences here. We attended Church in Chaguanas again today. The
father of the family that lost a full-term baby a few months ago spoke
in Sacrament meeting and then taught Sunday School. He is growing by
leaps and bounds spiritually, great to watch. Interesting that our
trials can become a great blessing if we are willing to let them do
that for us.
We will be staying with the Gamiette family again this week as Sister
Gamiette will be going on tour with President Gamiette. So another
busy week ahead. We love you all and hope that our computer is back
up and going shortly so we can communicate more effectively.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Sunday, October 3, 2010
October 3,2010
Good day from Trinidad!!! It has been a great couple of days as we
have watched General Conference with the rest of the Church around the
world. We have been so blessed by the messages. President Monson
said, " I have so far to go before I sleep and promises to keep." I'm
not sure that is exact but that is definitely how I feel after
listening to Conference. It is a good time to evaluate and set new
goals.
We have had another busy week. It has been transfer week and and that
is always an adventure. It went without any major difficulties for
which we are so grateful. There were five Elders who returned home
this week and will be greatly missed. The feelings are very mixed as
they leave. They can hardly believe that there mission is completed
and feel sadness at leaving and yet they are so excited to see their
families and start their personal lives again. It is definitely a
"pay day" for President and Sister Gamiette. They have grown to love
these missionaries so much and have watched them mature and strengthen
their testimonies while serving and changing the lives of so many.
There is a sweet spirit in the Mission Office! We will receive the
new missionaries from the MTC in the Dominican Republic this week. We
talked about them last week. None of them are from the US and four
are from within the West Indies Mission boundaries. Another great
week ahead. Immigration is always a challenge and we hope that we
have things in order.
May we all be blessed in the coming days as we remember the messages
given to us this weekend and use them to set and renew goals. Faith,
the Holy Ghost and listening to a "LIVING PROPHET" were repeated
subjects. Our love and prayers are with you.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
have watched General Conference with the rest of the Church around the
world. We have been so blessed by the messages. President Monson
said, " I have so far to go before I sleep and promises to keep." I'm
not sure that is exact but that is definitely how I feel after
listening to Conference. It is a good time to evaluate and set new
goals.
We have had another busy week. It has been transfer week and and that
is always an adventure. It went without any major difficulties for
which we are so grateful. There were five Elders who returned home
this week and will be greatly missed. The feelings are very mixed as
they leave. They can hardly believe that there mission is completed
and feel sadness at leaving and yet they are so excited to see their
families and start their personal lives again. It is definitely a
"pay day" for President and Sister Gamiette. They have grown to love
these missionaries so much and have watched them mature and strengthen
their testimonies while serving and changing the lives of so many.
There is a sweet spirit in the Mission Office! We will receive the
new missionaries from the MTC in the Dominican Republic this week. We
talked about them last week. None of them are from the US and four
are from within the West Indies Mission boundaries. Another great
week ahead. Immigration is always a challenge and we hope that we
have things in order.
May we all be blessed in the coming days as we remember the messages
given to us this weekend and use them to set and renew goals. Faith,
the Holy Ghost and listening to a "LIVING PROPHET" were repeated
subjects. Our love and prayers are with you.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
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